The exercise leader's gender and physique salience : effects on self-presentational concerns in an exercise context

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Abstract

Self-presentation is the process by which individuals attempt to monitor and
control how others perceive and evaluate them (Leary, 1992; Leary & Kowalski, 1990).
Self-presentational concerns have been shown to influence a number of exercise-related
behaviours, cognitions, and affective responses to exercise (e.g., social anxiety). Social
anxiety occurs when an individual wants to create a specific impression on others, but is
unsure (s)he will be successful (Leary & Kowalski, 1995). Social physique anxiety (SPA)
is a specific form of social anxiety related the evaluation of one's body (Hart, Leary, &
Rejeski, 1989). Both social anxiety and SPA may act as deterrents to exercise (Lantz,
Hardy, & Ainsworth, 1997; Leary, 1992), so it is important to examine factors that may
influence social anxiety and SPA; one such factor is self-presentational efficacy (SPE).
SPE is one's confidence in successfully making desired impressions on others (Leary &
Atherton, 1986) and has been associated with social anxiety and SPA (Leary &
Kowalski, 1995; Gammage, Martin Ginis, & Hall, 2004).
Several aspects of the exercise environment, such as the presence of mirrors,
clothing, and the exercise leader or other participant characteristics, may be manipulated
to influence self-presentational concerns (e.g., Gammage, Martin Ginis et aI., 2004;
Martin & Fox, 2001; Martin Ginis, Prapavessis, & Haase, 2005). Given that the exercise
leader has been recognized as one of the most important influences in the group exercise
context (Franklin, 1988), it is important to further examine how the leader may impact
self-presentational concerns. The present study examined the impact of the exercise
leader's gender and physique salience (i.e., the extent to which the body was emphasized)
on SPE, state social anxiety (SSA), and state social physique anxiety (SPA-S) of women
in a live exercise class.
Eighty-seven college-aged female non- or infrequent exercisers (i.e., exercised 2
or fewer times per week) participated in a group exercise class led by one of four leaders:
a female whose physique was salient; a female whose physique was non-salient; a male
whose physique was salient; or a male whose physique was non-salient. Participants
completed measures of SPE, SSA, and SPA-S prior to and following completion of a 30-
minute group exercise class. In addition, a measure of social comparison to the exercise
leader and other participants with respect to attractiveness, skill, and fitness was
completed by participants following the exercise class.
A MANOV A was conducted to examine differences between groups on postexercise
variables. Results indicated that there were no significant differences between
groups on measures ofSPE, SSA, or SPA-S (allp's > .05). However, when all
participants were collapsed into one group, a MANOV A showed a significant time effect
(F(3, 81) = 19.45,p < .05, 1')2= .419). Follow-up ANOVAs indicated that post-exercise
SPE increased significantly, while SSA and SPA-S decreased significantly (SPE: F(I,
83) = 30.87,p < .001,1')2 = .27; SSA: F(I,83) = 11.09,p < .001, 1')2 = .12; SPA-S: F (1,83)
= 42.79,p < .001, 1')2 = .34). Further, results of a MANOVA revealed that participants
who believed they were less fit than other group members (i.e., made negative social
comparisons) reported significantly more post-exercise SSA and SP A-S than those who
believed they were more fit than the other participants (i.e., made positive comparisons;
SSA: F(2, 84) = 3.46, p < .05, 1')2 = .08; SPA-S: F(2, 84) = 5.69, p < .05, 1')2 = .12).
These results may indicate that successfully completing an exercise class may
serve as a source of SPE and lead to reduced social anxiety and SPA-S in this population.
Alternatively, characteristics of the exercise leader may be less important than
characteristics of the other participants. These results also suggest that the types of social
comparisons made may influence self-presentational concerns in this sample. Future
research should examine how the type of social comparison (i.e., negative or positive)
made to the other group members may either generate or reduce anxiety. Also, factors
that contribute to the types of social comparisons made with other exercisers should be
examined. Implications for practice and research are discussed.